A/N: Damn! We passed 30 chapters. This fic was NOT supposed to be this long and I still have a lot to go over. I don't know if I'm happy or sad about it : /

On another note, this fic and Branded came out with the highest votes. This one had a little more so it will be my primary focus, Branded will be a close second. Since Branded is going to be shorter than this one, I might just end up finishing that one first anyway.

Lena's POV

I watch as Lux leaves and to my dismay she doesn't even say anything when I try to tell her goodbye. She looks almost out of it as if she was already out of the house instead of walking down the hall. Afterwards, I watch as Stef closes the door behind her and I can tell that it's hurting her more than ever, but yet she doesn't make a sound or show almost any sign of emotion at all. These two were more alike than I realized, I think to myself.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, but then curse myself for asking such a stupid question out loud. Of course she wasn't okay. "I mean… is there anything I can do?" I ask as I rub my hand up and down her arm in an attempt to console her. "You look like you could use a hot bath," I tell her. "And some red wine?"

"No, thanks, love," she says as she gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. "I should actually get back to working on the basement. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done," she answers in a quiet voice and offers me a small and unconvincing smile before walking away.

I breathe out a huge sigh and take a seat on the couch to recuperate. I wanted nothing more than to help my wife through this, but I didn't know how to even start. And I know that I shouldn't blame myself but everything had gotten worse when Lux ran away, and that was my fault. Fern reiterating my own words back to me during her visit, just made me realize that I wasn't helping anything. How could I say something like that? And what must they all think about me? Certainly, they'd bring it up during our sessions but I'm not sure how I'd be able to answer to that. I'm sure that Lux wouldn't want me there in the first place, so how could I ever fix it...

I'm taken out of my thoughts when I hear the floorboards creak. Immediately, I turn to see Brandon looking in the direction that his mother had just been. Then, we hear her walking down the stairs and into the basement.

"What's going on with mom?" he asks me worriedly.

I can't blame him for being curious. I hated when Stef got like this too. The last time it happened was when we found out that Robert wouldn't sign the abandonment papers. She was feeling helpless. And frankly, so was I.

"Your mom's going to be fine… We're just…Uh," I pause because I'm not sure how much I should tell him or how much Stef prefers I tell him.

"What?" he smiles as he takes a seat on the couch across from me. "…I'm not a little kid anymore, Lena. I'll be leaving for college in a year. I can handle it," he tries to assure me. And surprisingly, I actually believe him. He probably could handle it, but I need to make sure not to tell him too much. He still reminds me of the five year old who used to try to convince Stef and I that he heard a burglar downstairs just so he could crawl into bed and sleep in between us.

I smile back, "I know, Brandon. Don't remind me," I put my hand up, not even wanting to think about him going off to college anytime soon. "There's been some issues with Lux, so her social worker thought it'd be best if she stayed somewhere else for a little while. Your mom is… taking it a little hard."

"But she shouldn't," he says casually. "Lux doesn't even want to be here. She's done nothing but run away ever since she got here. Maybe it's for the best that she leave. I mean, it's not mom's fault what happened."

"You're right. It's not your mom's fault. It's not anyone's fault for that matter, except of course the doctor who started this whole mess. But…what do think would happen if it were you or any of you other kids? …Do you think mom would just give up?" I try to ask Brandon, to get him to see where we were all coming from. "Lux is her daughter, Brandon. Your sister… We don't give up on family. If we haven't taught you anything else, it's that."

"I get that, but she doesn't want to live here."

"Neither did you at one point, if I recall correctly? And neither did Callie… Even Jesus and Mariana threatened to run away at one point, remember that?" I laugh and I'm glad that I receive a chuckle from him in return.

"How could I forget? It was my fault for making Mariana cry. I thought Jesus would punch me in the face that day. Even at 12 years old, I was still scared of him."

"Well, he was protecting his sister," I try to remind him.

"Our sister," Brandon corrects, just as I thought he would.

"Well, mom's trying to protect yours right now," I let him know. And I can see that some level of understanding is going on in his mind. "So are you going to be Lux's Jesus or… are you going to be Brandon again?"

"…So...what can I do?" he asks and I can tell his offer is genuine.

"For now, just be there for your mom… She's fixing up the basement right now, and maybe you could—"

"Help out?" he nods understandably.

"Yes," I smile. "I'm sure she could use us right now. All of us. I know that not everybody is on board with this whole Lux moving in here thing but—"

"She's family. Our sister," he smiles awkwardly. "So…Is that ever going to stop sounding weird?" he asks me which causes me to laugh.

"I don't know. Did it stop sounding weird for Mariana and Callie?"

"Gotcha," he answers as he gets up and leaves the living room.

Lux's POV

"Are you okay?" Fern asks, and I realize that I haven't said a thing since I got into the car. I had been too busy running over everything that happened since I met these people in my mind.

They were nice for the most part, but I couldn't go back.

I already told Callie that she had nothing to worry about.

But what I couldn't understand was why the last thing Stef had said to me was still running over an over again through my head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lie. And I think I've said it enough times to really believe it too.

"Good. Because there's a few things I want to talk to you about…"

"Great," I state sarcastically. "What's up?"

"Well, first off… I want you to know that what you did to this family wasn't very nice, Lux. I didn't enjoy taking you away from your own parents. I hope you know that. You don't get to use me as an out, because you're not getting along with them—"

"I wasn't."

"Let me finish," she interrupts. "I know that this is difficult for you, and I know that I haven't been your social worker for very long, but I also need you to know that I'm on your side…"

"Uhuh?"

"But don't try to take advantage of me," she eyes me sternly.

"Got it."

"Good. Because you can't," she continues matter-of-factly.

"Oookkay…" I roll my eyes but luckily she doesn't see it.

"And I need to let you know that every Tuesday and Thursday you're going to come and see me."

"For what?" I ask in confusion. "Like a check-in kind of thing. Because you see, there are these devices called phones, which allow people to communicate with one another without actually seeing the other person."

"Don't be smart-aleck, Lux," she points her index finger at me, which causes me to shut up. "And it's not exactly a check-in kind of thing…"

"Then what is it?" I take a few seconds to actually register what she's saying. "Wait what? Like therapy?"

"Yes."

"No way," I cross my arms over my chest and try to keep my head straight.

"You don't have a choice in the matter, Lux. If I'm working with you, you have to work with me too."

"What do I need therapy for? I didn't even do anything."

"Or would you rather I take you back to the Adams Fosters now? Your choice…"

"Fine," I tell her out of annoyance. "I got it. Just don't be surprised when I don't say anything, is all," I tell her matter-of-factly. "…And where are we going?" I ask her once I realize that we've been driving for a while and I have no idea where I am.

"Well, that's something else I wanted to talk to you about…"

"Whoopee. Another surprise," I say unenergetically. "I cannot wait to find out what this one is."

"Are you always such great company to have around?" Fern smiles and I give her a fake one back. But the truth was I actually liked Fern out of all my other social workers. She always answered the phone when I called. Unlike the other fatso James who would call me back days later when I didn't even need him anymore, I could tell Fern cared. "Lux, I want to talk to you about where you're staying…"

"Okay?" I ask reluctantly.

"So, since this was such short notice and since you've already have a history with the Gilberts, I thought—"

"Whoa. Wait. The Gilberts?" I stop her. "The Gilberts…as in Valerie and Trey? Wh—why would they… I don't…"

This could not be really happening.

"They came looking for you. A short while after they put you back into the system, but you were already living with Christy so I couldn't do anything about it. I know that two years was a long time ago and I don't expect y…"

"It was a very long time ago," I interrupt.

I listen to Fern as she takes a deep breath before she continues, "Lux… is there another reason why you aren't happy about this. Because from what I have on file, you seemed very happy there. It says that you lived with Valerie and Trey for two years. I can't help but notice that's a much longer time than you have lived in any other home and you were hardly a troublemaker…"

"I know but…isn't there some other place I could go? Some other family that I don't already have a history with?"

"For tonight? No. Not unless… Why don't you want to stay with Trey and Valerie? They really miss you, Lux. And they're willing to put the past aside, so you don't have to worry about what you did back then…"

Why don't you want to stay with Trey and Valerie?

The question repeats in my head over and over again.

Part of me wants to scream at her exactly why.

BECAUSE HE RAPED ME!

But I knew better than to tell the truth anymore. Valerie, my own mother, wouldn't even believe me, so why would Fern?

I knew these types of cases practically get thrown own without any direct evidence. I watched enough law and order to know that when you cry rape years after the fact no body believes you.

So why would they believe me now?

And the worst part about all of this was that I almost smiled when I heard her name.

How does that make any sense?

I actually want to see her.

I miss that woman more than I have ever missed anything.

More than I miss Bug.

But this time she wants me back. She actually went looking for me soon after she got rid of me. That's got to count for something right?

"Lux?" Fern asks and for a while I'm not even sure how long I have zoned out.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay with staying at the Gilberts?"

Can I really say no? I want to answer.

I can't go back to Stef and Mike's, especially after everything that's happened.

"Yeah," I answer casually. "Why wouldn't I be?"

To be continued…